Sorry this took so long to get up. School's been hectic and this is the first time in a while that I've had the chance to sit and do this.
Amoura
The five friends got back to their school schedules in no time. Lily found herself waking up at five thirty in the morning again with Remus. James got up a few times with Remus and talked with him and Lily.
Severus Snape and his gang didn't make any of their comments to the five friends unless Lily wasn't around. If he would make a comment when Lily was around, she would let a few sparks of energy come off her fingertips as a warning. Luckily, the sparks didn't make Lily's hands too hot.
Remus once again was missing during the full moon during September. Lily came down the stairs to the empty seat that Remus usually sat in. Even though he wasn't there, she sat down in front of the chair and put her head on the seat.
Looking at the fire, Lily sighed. "What's the use of waking up this early if you know Remus won't be here?" she asked herself. 'Because you know that he will be here either tomorrow or a in couple of days and his presence still lingers,' a voice somewhere in her head answered. Lily sighed again at the answer given to her.
Suddenly, her head jerked up as she heard someone coming down the stairs. She jerked her head towards the stairs and saw James. Though not happy at the choice, Lily was happy for the company. "Hey," she said sort of shyly.
"Hey. I wondered if you would be down here considering it's Remus's time of the month." Lily giggled. James looked at her funny. "What?"
"Your choice of words. It makes it sound as if Remus is a girl and having his period," she said through her giggles.
James laughed realizing what Lily said was true. "I didn't mean it like that," he said trying to sound reproachful. "You know I was referring to the full moon, Lillian."
Lily stood up from the floor laughing and sat in Remus's chair. "I know. Don't call me Lillian. You know I hate being called by my full first name. Either call me Lily or Lirio. Now, back on topic, I was just wondering what we could do to help him through it."
James sat down in a chair beside Lily. "I don't think there is anything we can do. Except help him come up with excuses for his absence."
"But, James, honestly, how many times can Remus be off visiting his sick mother or grandmother or some other relative every month?" Lily asked with frustration.
"Well, it's not as if we can go down and be there when he transforms. He's bite us, or worse, eat us! We'd have to be some sort of animal for him not to hurt us."
"That's it!" Lily exclaimed as she jumped up from her seat.
"What's it?"
"Come on!" Lily grabbed James's wrist and dragged him to her dorm. She searched through her trunk until she found the book she was looking for. Then she sat on the bed and started flipping through the pages.
James was getting impatient watching her. "Are you going to tell me what this is about or should I just leave?"
"James sit down!" James heaved a sigh as he sat beside Lily on her bed. "I've seen McGonnagal turn into a cat a few times and asked her how she was able to do that. She told me that she was an animagi and that we would get a full lesson on it in our fourth year. I decided to do some research on it to know exactly what it was. Look right here. An animagus is a person able to become an animal at will."
"I knew that, Lily!" James interrupted her. "I am a part of the wizarding world you know."
"I know that, James, now let me finish. If we could somehow find a way to become one, we could be with Remus during the full moon!"
"Just one question, Lily. Just how exactly do we become animagi? It could take years and then we also have to register ourselves!"
Lily gave an exasperated sigh. "James, there is an extremely intense potion in here that allows you to become animagi. I mean really intense. We will have to be very careful in making it. If one thing is wrong who knows what we'll do to ourselves!"
"Who's going to take the potion though?"
Lily gave him a look that plainly said 'Do I have to come up with everything?' "James, everyone who knows about Remus's condition will take it or will have to opportunity to take it. That means you, Rini, Sirius, and me."
"And Peter," James added.
"Who?"
"Peter Pettigrew, the chubby boy in our year who is in Hufflepuff. Your cousin met him in Diagon Alley."
Lily made a face. "Oh, right. Him. Well, if he knows, then yes, Pettigrew as well. So then we just need to gather everything and brew this potion."
"Sounds easy enough."
"It's not, James. Oh, I don't know, half this stuff isn't in the student stores. Synthia might have some of these things in her stores, but the others we'll have to buy! I might be able to ask Synthia for the ingredients, but if she doesn't agree to give them to us we'll have to steal them."
"Lily, who's Synthia?"
"Professor Cauldro, James," Lily said with exasperation. "The Potions Mistress and I are on better terms than any other student in this school." Lily suddenly became very quiet and sentimental. "She's like a second mother to me. She helped me learn control of my powers when no one else could. I really don't know what I'd do without her." Then, as if realizing what she was saying, Lily became serious again. "Anyway, Synthia might give me some of these if I tell her they're for a potion to help a friend. She won't be too inquisitive, hopefully. Besides, I want to do this just to prove to Remus how much I love him."
This puzzled James. "Doesn't he know already?"
Lily lay back on her bed. "It's not that he doesn't know I love him, he's just afraid I don't love him as much as he loves me. He's afraid I love someone more."
James looked over her shoulder. "Oh, really? Like who?"
Lily sat up again and looked James in the eyes. "Like you."
James was mesmerized by what flashed before him. He saw himself feeding Lily on the train and saw Remus's uneasy look. Then he saw Lily and Remus in the Great Hall and Remus was holding Lily's hand tightly. He heard Remus ask, 'How do you feel about James?' Then he heard Lily's quiet tinkling giggle. 'James?' Then she became more serious. 'He's just a friend. If I loved James more than a friend and more than you I would be going out with him, not you.' He saw them talking but couldn't here more of what was said. 'If you can't trust me, how can you love me?' he heard Lily say. Then he heard Remus's response. 'I do trust you, just not other guys is all.' Then he was brought out of Lily's mind and memories.
Lily looked at James's nose so not too have him go back into her mind. "What happened?" James asked.
"You saw into my mind. I was thinking about what happened on the train and at the Feast. You saw what I was thinking. I could feel you in my mind, like we both shared the experience. It happens every time someone and I make eye contact. They see and hear my thoughts. I can block them, but when I tried with you, you heard a static noise for some reason. That's what you heard on the train."
"I'm still weirded out by this, but why did you try to block me from hearing your thoughts?"
"Because I wanted Remus to be the first to hear me so he didn't think that you and I had some sort of special connection. Anyone can hear my thoughts and with time, I will be able to hear anyone's thoughts at will. It's all part of my new powers."
"So were you telling the truth about me only being a friend or were you just saying that to make Remus feel better?"
Lily leaned near his ear. "Even if it was just to make Remus feel better, do you honestly think I'd tell anyone? Especially you." Lily moved back.
"I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right! Now, go wake up Sirius and I'll wake Rini. We'll meet in the Common Room and I'll tell them my plan."
James shuffled out of the room to get Sirius. Lily threw herself back on her bed again and sighed. "That was too close." She then woke Rini up and told her and Sirius her plan.
James, Lily, Rini, and Sirius didn't tell Remus about their plan to become animagi. When Quidditch practice started back up again, the four were all on the main team. Lily and James still made an excellent pair of chasers, Rini still was one of the best seekers the team had seen in a good few years, and Sirius was quite a mean beater.
Their captain, Lukas Mio, was very pleased to see that the team had gotten better over the summer holiday. He even called Lily over to ask if this with James had been fixed up. Lily assured him that it was and then she asked him how were things with Angela. He blushed and then told her to get back to the game while both of them laughed. They got back to practice and everything went without a hitch.
That night during dinner, Professor Dumbledore announced that the Halloween Ball would take place as usual. The attire would be dress robes. Lily breathed a sigh of relief at this since she had already bought her dress robes.
After dinner, Lily walked up to the head table. "Professor Dumbledore?" she called.
Dumbledore looked at Lily with the usual twinkle in his eyes. "Yes, Miss Evans."
Lily suddenly became a bit shy. "Well, I was wondering if, at this years ball, could I maybe do a little performance?"
Dumbledore smiled. "What kind of performance were you thinking of?"
Lily blushed under his gaze and at the fact that he was even considering her idea. "Well, I, um, was hoping that maybe I, ah, could, um, sing, maybe," Lily stumbled through her words.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Lily. It would be nice to hear a students God given talents."
Lily looked up into his eyes. "Really? You mean it, Professor?"
"Of course, my dear. I would, however, like to hear your song choices and your voice. I doubt I will be dissatisfied by either, though. So, tomorrow morning, I would love to hear you. I will collect you at breakfast and take you to my office. It will save you from anyone else hearing and spoiling the surprise."
Lily was giddy by the time she got to the Common Room. Lily walked in and her friends just stared at her. She ran over towards them. First she got to Sirius. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Rini started to protest when she ran over towards her and gave her a hug. Next she ran over towards James and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Lastly, she ran over to Remus and gave him a kiss on the lips with a big hug and then ran up to her dorm.
They all looked at each other. Rini was the first to break the silence. "What was that about?" she asked slowly.
Sirius looked at her and said, "I don't know, but don't you think you should find out?"
"Oh, right!" Rini said before rushing up the stairs to her dorm. The boys just shook their heads.
When Rini got to her dorm, she saw Lily with some sort of paper in her hands and some of the items from her trunk strewn around the room. Lily's back was turned so she didn't see Rini come in. Rini watched Lily for a while before she realized that Lily was humming. Listening closer, Rini realized that Lily was singing quietly. Lily sat on her bed and continued to sing so Rini quietly left the room.
When she got back downstairs, the boys looked up expectantly. "I believe that Dumbledore said yes to her singing at the Halloween Ball," Rini said, smiling and shaking her head.
Remus looked up and asked, "Why is that?"
Rini sat down in Sirius's lap, laughing, as she said, "Because she's up there, practicing with music that she brought!"
"Well, you know she was really looking forward to being able to sing at this years ball. I don't doubt that she's damn near giddy!" Sirius said.
"Hell, she's past giddy!" James said with a smile. "She's ecstatic!"
"Come on, guys. Try and keep the vulgar language to a minimum," Rini scolded. "What would Lily do if she heard any of you talking like that?"
"She's probably shock us with an energy ball," Remus said good-naturedly.
Over the next month, the only people to really see Lily besides in class were James, Rini, and Sirius. Remus hardly ever saw her anymore except in class and during meals. Lily was either up in her dorm practicing on her song for the ball, working with Professor Cauldro on her powers, at Quidditch practice, working on the animagi potion with James, Rini, and Sirius, or asleep. She got most of her homework done in History of Magic while Professor Binns droned on and most everyone else caught up on their sleep. She slept through most of the weekends from being up late into the night working on homework and being up by eight in the morning for breakfast during the week. She rarely ever woke up early enough to sit with Remus in the Common Room in the mornings. When she did it was usually a Monday morning after the weekend.
It happened to be the Monday before the full moon when Remus and Lily were sitting in front of the fire. Lily was just enjoying being there with him. She was brought out of her peacefulness when Remus called her name.
"Lily, where have you been the last month?"
"Oh, just here, there," she answered kind of wistfully.
"But what have you been doing? I barely ever see you. Or James, Rini, and Sirius for that matter!"
Lily looked up at him with an odd expression. "You know I'm very busy, Remus! I have to practice my song for the ball, I have Quidditch practice, and I have those special lessons with Synthia, and I've been working with James, Rini, and Sirius on—"Lily stopped there, realizing she had almost told Remus about the plan to become animagi.
"On what?" Remus asked suspiciously.
"On a surprise for you," Lily finished quickly, hoping he wouldn't ask questions.
"But I hardly ever see you, Lily! You always seem too busy for me, for us anymore."
Lily was angry. It wasn't her fault that she didn't have enough time for everyone. "Fine!" she said huffily. "Then go find someone who does have time for you. Apparently I'm not good enough. Apparently I'm not good girlfriend material. So go ask Sara or Jordyn to the Halloween Ball since you haven't even asked me yet!" With that, she left the Common Room and slammed the portrait door behind her. In her fury, she walked down to the lake and started throwing small energy balls into it.
Back in the common room, Sirius had come down to investigate what was happening. He had heard Lily's last sentence and seen her walk furiously out the door. He walked over to Remus who looked as if he wasn't exactly sure what had just happened. "What did you do, Remus?" he said with a smile.
"I just asked her where she had been all this month because I've barely seen her and she got really mad and upset. I think she just broke up with me."
"Oh," Sirius said, with a serious expression for once.
"I think I was crowding her. I just wish she would have told me so we could have worked it out!"
"Sometimes it's not easy to say how you feel, Remus. She was probably just worried what you would say if she said anything."
"Yeah, you're probably right. What am I going to do now, though? I don't want to go to the dance with anyone except her, and, now that I'm not attached to her, who knows what slime ball she'll go to the dance with."
"Well, I might be able to stop her from going with anyone unworthy of her," Sirius said cheerfully.
"Oh, really?" Remus said, interested. "How?"
"We could just ask James to ask her out. Surely she'll say yes since he is her friend."
"It's worth a shot," Remus said with a sigh.
It didn't take long for the whole school to find out Lily and Remus had broke up. Nearly every guy was suddenly asking Lily to the ball. She would politely turn them down, not really wanting to go with anyone except as friends.
It was a week 'till the ball and Lily was still turning down offers. Though when she left the Great Hall after breakfast Sunday morning she was given an offer that intrigued her. Lily was heading up the stairs when someone called her name. She turned around and saw Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and their bodyguards. "What do you want?" Lily asked with a sigh.
Lucius walked up the stairs to stand in front of Lily. "Lovely Lily, I was merely wondering if you would give me the pleasure of being my date for the Halloween Ball. I haven't asked anyone else yet in hopes you would accept the invitation."
Lily was about to rudely decline when she saw James, Remus, Rini, and Sirius walk out of the Great Hall. Lily suddenly had an idea. Giving an almost sinister smile she said, "I would love to, Lucius. Meet me in the Entrance Hall at eight. Oh, and don't worry about any sparks coming from these hands. As long as you and your friends keep a civil tongue I shouldn't be given a need to. Just do me one thing."
"Anything."
"Don't put any gel or hairspray or anything else in your hair. The natural look has always been more appealing to me."
"It shall be done." Lucius gently picked up Lily's hand and lightly kissed is. The gentleness of it surprised Lily. "Farewell 'till Saturday then, Lovely Lily." Lucius turned and rejoined his friends with a smile, leaving a very surprised Lily.
Sirius saw Lucius walk away with a smile and asked, "Shouldn't he be in pain right now? I mean he was just talking to Lily and I believe I saw him kiss her hand. Why is he smiling?"
Not waiting for an answer, Sirius started up the stairs to follow Lily. James, Remus, and Rini ran to catch up to him.
Sirius caught up to Lily right before she entered the Common Room. "What did Malfoy want?" he asked immediately.
"Fairie knoll," Lily said. The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Lily stepped inside followed by her friends. "Will you stop following me!" It wasn't a question.
"As soon as you answer Sirius's question," James said.
"Which was?" Lily asked playing dumb.
"What did Malfoy want?" Sirius nearly screamed.
"None of your business, thank you very much!" Lily snapped as she sat in a chair facing the fire and away from her friends. After a few minutes she heard them go to their dorms. "Finally!" she cried. "I thought those nosey jerks would never leave."
"So we're nosey jerks now, are we?"
"James!" Lily cried as she stood and turned around. "What are you still doing here?" she demanded.
"Ah, I live here?" he tried for some humor. Seeing Lily's face he knew she wasn't into jokes at the moment. "In all seriousness, I wanted to ask you to the ball. Besides Remus, you and I are the only ones without a boyfriend or girlfriend so I thought we could go as friends."
"Oh..." Lily was taken aback by his invitation. "I'm sorry, James." Lily really did look sorry. "I'm already going with someone else."
James looked surprised. "Really? I thought you were turning down all romantic offers, hoping to just go with a friend." James watched as Lily's face broke out into a grin that he constantly saw on Sirius but never on Lily. "Who did you agree to go with?"
Lily's eyes sparkled with mischief as she said, "None of your business, James."
James looked into Lily's eyes. A picture of Lucius Malfoy flashed in James's head. "Please tell me you did not agree to go to the ball with that, that...thing!"
"Lucius is not a thing, James!" Lily shouted. "He was a complete gentleman when he asked me and was too charming to say no to. If you don't like my choice for the ball then bugger off!"
Lily started towards her dorm when James grabbed her around the waist and threw her onto the couch where she landed with a yelp. James sat down beside her and took her hands into his. "I'm just worried is all, Lily. With our track record with Malfoy and his goons, I just don't want to see you hurt."
Lily sighed. "I know," she said, her voice much softer than a few moments ago. "I know you're worried. I want you to know that I have my reasons for going to the ball with Lucius. I wasn't planning on going to the ball with anyone, really. Then he asked me, and, well, I said yes for reasons that are none of your business. Try to understand that, James." Lily gave James a hug and a quick peck on the cheek before walking up to her dorm.
James walked up to his dorm to find it empty. The door closed as James was about to sit on his bed. Sirius and Remus took off James's invisibility cloak. They both looked furious, but Remus was the one who was steaming.
"Malfoy!" Remus raged. "She's going to the ball with Malfoy! A filthy, stinking Slytherin is taking my place at Lily's side!"
"Come on, Remus," James said calmly. "You heard her. She has her reasons for going with Malfoy. I mean, maybe Malfoy threatened her."
"James, if Malfoy had threatened her then she would have used her powers," Remus said through clenched teeth.
"Ah, good point," James said. "Well, she said she had a reason, and I, for one, believe her."
"This isn't right!" Remus burst out in his rage. "This just isn't right!" He threw one of his books across the room and then sank down to the floor with his head in his hands. James and Sirius heard his sobs and each put a hand on his shoulder. "I just don't know what I did to make her break up with me," he said to his friends.
Up in the girls' dorm, Rini was trying to get Lily to talk. "Come on, Lily! Tell me why you are acting this way and who you are going to the ball with, since you said no to James."
"I don't know what you are talking about," Lily said stiffly.
"Well," Rini said, "first you talk to Malfoy and he walks away smiling, then when Sirius asks you a question you totally flip out, and now you won't even tell me why you turned James down. I thought you liked James like that! I thought you wanted him to ask you out, whether as a friend or more!"
"Lucius walked away from me smiling and I turned James down because I'm going with him."
"I'm sorry. I must have an earwax build-up or something. Who did you say were going with?"
"Lucius, you dummy! I'm going to the ball with Lucius."
Rini looked horrified. "Are you serious!" Lily nodded. "You are insane! You go through hell last year because you were in love with both James and Remus and now that you have the chance to pursue things with James you say no for Lucius!"
"I want to teach Remus a lesson!" Lily said, her voice like ice. "If I date someone who isn't in this House he can see how a trusting guy handles a relationship. If I get to torture him more by it being one of their nemesis's so be it."
"But what about James?" Rini still persisted.
"If I go out with James then Remus will be angry with him once again. I don't want to be the reason such a great friendship is spoiled for the second time." Lily lay back onto her bed and sighed.
Rini left the room to go talk with James and to see if Remus had heard who Lily's date was. If he had, Rini was sure that Remus wouldn't be a very happy camper.
Lily avoided her friends for the rest of the day and spent her time reading her muggle novels and doing her homework.
The next day when Lily entered the Great Hall for breakfast, she heard a lot of whispering from all the tables. Lily sat down beside Sirius's little sister, Vega. "What's everyone whispering about?" she asked.
"Oh, it's the most amazing thing!" Vega said with excitement. "Lucius Malfoy finally got a date for the ball and she apparently is very precise with how she wants him to look. He isn't wearing anything in his hair like he usually does!"
"Wow," Lily murmured. "Already trying to please me."
"What?" Vega asked.
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud. Does anyone know who he's going with?" Lily asked, playing dumb.
"That's just it! He won't tell anyone besides his closest friends and they have been sworn to secrecy. I think on the punishment of death."
Lily laughed as she got herself some breakfast. Rini came in and sat down next to her, soon followed by James and Sirius. "Where's Remus?" Lily asked.
"He decided he would get food from the kitchens," James said, giving Lily a look.
"Did you tell him or did he sneak under your cloak and eavesdrop?" Lily snapped.
"We eavesdropped," Sirius said as calmly as he could.
"I can't believe it!" Lily burst. "I'm not even his girlfriend anymore and he still has the nerve to spy on me to see if I'm doing something I shouldn't! I can't believe any of you four! I thought you trusted me, but apparently I was wrong!" Lily said loudly. She stood up from her seat and stalked out of the hall. On her way, she saw Lucius. Vega was right. Lucius didn't have anything in his hair. It made him look a lot better, in Lily's opinion.
